


Sleeping Light

by RosieTwiggs



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Gen, Off-screen Character Death, Spoilers for 8.22
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-09
Updated: 2013-05-09
Packaged: 2017-12-10 21:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/790354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosieTwiggs/pseuds/RosieTwiggs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s usually a heavy sleeper - the only thing that can wake him up is his beeper when there’s an emergency.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleeping Light

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for 8x22.

A cry wakes him up at 2:30 in the morning. He’s usually a heavy sleeper - the only thing that can wake him up is his beeper when there’s an emergency.

He drags himself out of bed, rubbing at his eyes, and stumbles down the hall to the baby’s room.

She’s missing her pacifier, so he gets down on hands and knees to see if it fell between the bars of the crib on to the floor. He spots it in the far corner and grabs it. As he stands back up he whispers, “Shhhhh, Beth, it’s okay, it’s okay…”

But then he freezes, his sleep-addled mind catching up with why he was the one to get up when Beth cried.

He stares at the pacifier, unblinking, and its shape begins to blur as his eyes lose focus and dry out. His grip tightens on the tiny object until the plastic is digging into his palm and he’s shaking and Beth is still crying and Sarah isn’t here.

Ian shakes his head, trying to clear it. Beth is getting frantic. He needs to take care of Beth.

“Shhhh, baby, it’s okay. Daddy’s here.”

He picks her up, giving her the pacifier and she quiets down immediately, laying her head down on his shoulder. She’s going to be one in a month. She’s going to be one and Sarah won’t even see her daughter’s first birthday.

He doesn’t put Beth back in the crib. Instead, he carries her with him to their bed and climbs in next to her, Beth snuggled up against his chest. She’s already sleeping again, but he doesn’t think he’ll be able to fall back to sleep. 

Ian stays up all night, listening to Beth breathe and looking past her at Sarah’s empty side of the bed.


End file.
